Philadelphia Life is So-Real

[jmrphy]

General Strike Google Bomb for Occupy Philly

[sursoreal]

The local weather philadelphia is sort of tepid. We can see on the horizon a slight change in the atmosphere. The local weather philadelphia on Tuesday will be ultimately something to talk about. There is a lot planned for the local weather philadelphia. One can see how in the future people will be talking about the local weather philadelphia. When millions rise up in the streets and shut down the city in a day of general strike, the local weather philadelphia will never be the same.

[kostya-fomin]

Tia and Tamara

[sursoreal]

@ the Freak Show

[tiffanyyoon-deactivated20221108]

Sculptures by James Labold.  We did a little shoot at Jim’s studio to get him some photos for grad school applications. Wish him luck and enjoy his work! 

[sursoreal]

Shots by Tiffany Yoon of a wonderful artist named James Labold. Brothers James and Greg used to run a fashion line together. The below sculptures represent the two+ years of work since the fashion line came to close. Wow!

[stilllifephilly-blog]

We’re psyched to announce the February installment of Still Life, a bimonthly showcase of experimental music. This month’s show is Saturday, February 11, in the placid confines of the First Unitarian Church’s side chapel.

On the bill this month is The Water, a drums / guitar duo from...

[sursoreal]

John Vettese has a new concert series called Still Life. With Northern Valentine on the bill this is something worth checking out. Haven't seen these dudes in ages, and they're probably the only ones to actually capture a My Bloody Valentine sound in contemporary times.

[sursoreal]

The advertisement reads "NASDAQ OMX Group completes acquisition of The Philadelphia Stock Exchange". Photo was taken after the corporate purchase of our stock exchange in 2008.

For me it was a little known fact that Philadelphia's Stock Exchange is actually the first organized stock exchange in the nation. It was an even larger surprise for me to find that it is not a local institution, at least not in recent history. Currently located at 1900 Market Street, I'm sure I am not the only person to walk by it on a semi-regular basis with out taking much notice of it. When we think of stock exchanges, most of us think of New York, but operating five blocks from Occupy Philly is the establishment where all of this greed started.

It was in 1790, that some very crafty, wealthy business owners gathered in tea rooms and taverns discussing the fundamentals of trade. These ideas eventually founded the United States's first stock exchange, in Philadelphia. Unsurprisingly, the founding of the stock exchange drew criticism from many notable figures of the era including founding fathers such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison who were wealthy farm land owners of the time. Imagine that, wealthy men who gained their wealth through the direction of hard labor and actual skill-based careers, being upset by the ideas of stocks and speculation and intangible money markets. The dialogue of "Main Street versus Wall Street" extends back into history, all the way to the beginning. 

It's hard to imagine Philadelphia as being the money center of the continent, but at one point this institution was where the 1% made money on investments in industrialization of America, the war debts of the Civil War, construction of transportation infrastructure, and other avenues of profiteering. At some time around the turn of the century, business moved out into the suburbs and Philadelphia's financial district sunk. The current Philadelphia Stock Exchange appears from the outside to be much less of a foe compared to its constituents up in Wall Street, but it would be dangerous to ignore. It was recently in 2008 bought by a New York company you may know called NASDAQ OMX Group, inc which owns NASDAQ, the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, second only to the New York Stock Exchange.

In some circles the Philadelphia Stock Exchange is considered a "sixth-borough" institution, considering its CEO, Eric W. Noll, has commuted from Manhattan for over a decade. Even if the Philadelphia Stock Exchange is not much unlike most corporations that exist within city limits, and only represents a small satellite of the much larger institution, it is still a part of the problem that led us down this road. Also, does it not strike you as odd that we as Philadelphians don't even own our own historic stock exchange anymore? That some wealthy New Yorker is getting even wealthier by an institution within our city just seems like something even more deranged and worth occupying.

For further reading,

The Philadelphia Stock Exchange and The City it Made by Domenic Vitiello and George E. Thomas. A short book about the history of America's first stock exchange and the various faces it has taken as well as how it has shaped this city through out its history. It is available here: http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/14756.html

Book Review: The Philly Stock Exchange, and the City it Left Unfinished by Thomas J. Walsh from Plan Philly. Read here: http://planphilly.com/book-review-philly-stock-exchange-and-city-it-left-unfinished

Short history and specifics about the Philadelphia Stock Exchange according to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Stock_Exchange

[peppersprayingcop]

[yvynyl]

Of course there’s a Tumblr for this meme.  But more importantly, there’s a list of bands and musicians signing support + playing for #OWS.

PS - fuck that guy/what he represents. I don’t ever blog politics on here, so forgive me this once, but if the State were as interested in enforcing the laws of banking as much as they were about the laws of public parks…

[sursoreal]

In recent days, we have watched in horror as our sisters and brothers have been swept out of satellite camps in cities across the nation leaving behind 1st Amendment Rights, Personal Property, and a growing legacy of the ability to shape an autonomous New World Order. These Occupiers have seen their homes bulldozed, their dreams squashed, and their sense of community pulled apart all in the middle of the night in a matter of moments. With yesterday’s turnover of events at Liberty Square, the home base for Occupy Wall Street, it seems like there is not much hope for the remaining Occupied encampments to continue in their present form.

National news has speculated that recent events were the result of a coordinated effort made by several cities across the nation. Reporters cite a conference call that took place between various members of city governments around the country. In Portland, and in Oakland, and in Denver, and in Atlanta, and even New York City we watched the livestreams and still camps were overturned.

And yet, Occupy Philadelphia still remains.

Mayor Nutter has repeatedly said that he would rather avoid a confrontation with the Occupiers. Even after his most recent press conference in response to a sexual assault that occurred on occupied ground, with its focus on the negative sides of the occupation, he fell short of suggesting that an eviction was imminent. Instead, he called for more open communication between city officials and the movement. When asked by City Paper if Mayor Nutter participated in the above-mentioned nationwide conference call, a city official replied No. Notes from today’s meeting between city officials and the Reasonable Solutions WG suggest that this administration has every intention of respecting the movement’s 1st Amendment rights, with confrontation a last resort. Let’s, for a moment, consider Mayor Nutter and his administration is not lying and is not hiding some alternative agenda. Let’s consider that the open arms they present to us are actually real.

The fact of the matter is that now is our time. We need to stop wasting our time on petty distractions and pick up where the Occupy Wall Street movement has left off. It is time for Occupy Philadelphia to enter a new age of intellectual development. In order to succeed there are a few things that need to be taken care of first.

First, various media sources have individuals who represent Occupy Philly quoted as saying about the petty crime, the smell of human waste, the drug use and the general lack of safe order running rampant on occupied groundas being something that already existed in this space before Occupy Philly came here or as something that exists here as well as anywhere else in the city. Though, this unfortunately is true, it does not work as a valid argument. It is time that Occupy Philly takes ownership of the bad elements that have seeped in through the cracks. The Occupy movement is supposed to be in its essence a beautification process both of the political and monetary system that works to defeat it and the depravity that exists in our living world. These are the responsibilities of the working groups such as Safety and Sanitation. If volunteer work is not enough to create a safer environment, why not designate a certain amount of donated funds towards employing specific individuals with job titles such as security, social worker, and sanitation worker, and thus create some of the new jobs that are so painfully needed.

Furthermore, there are bad elements within our own movement that we must fess up to. All of the infighting is real and it must be sought out and mediated. Consensus is never about getting what one individual wants, but it involves a decision making process in which the decision made is something that all parties represented can live with. We can achieve so much more together if we can just learn how to listen to and work with each other. The pitting of Moderates, Conservatives, and Liberals against each other is something for the political pundits of the past. Those lines do not exist anymore within this movement as long as we have the common ground found within the story told by the 99%. It is time for us to put aside our differences and stop imagining that individually we each know what is best for us as a whole.

Along these lines is the decision of the 11/11 General Assembly on whether we should stay or move. This may be an important time for all of us to reconsider the consequences of the decision that was made. For instance, there could be a lot more gained by the Occupy Philly movement in avoiding an eventual confrontation with the city and its police force. We have already created a community that thrives on intellectual discussion, social welfare, and direct democracy. Why should we throw all of that away in a pursuit of gaining national headlines that merely say, “Occupy Philly was closed for safety concerns”? As a member of Occupy Philly, who is just as weary of the Reasonable Solutions WG as of the Radical Caucus, I do believe there would be a lot more lost if we were told to pack up and leave as opposed to allowed to continue indefinitely.

Which brings me to my final note. It is about time that Occupy Philly shifts from a focus on logistical operations towards figuring out solutions for the sentiments that originally brought us all out here to begin with. We are all here for different reasons, but we can all agree the modern world and the direction it is taking us gives us a bad feeling. We need to continue discussions on what we as Philadelphian’s demand as part of the 99%. We need to step in where OWS has been kicked out and brainstorm inspirational techniques for attacking nonviolently the system that is set against the 99%. We need to talk about consensus and finally figure out what direct democracy is and how to successfully achieve it. We need to do the hard work of creating a new system that devalues the 1% and gives the power back to the majority. We must take advantage of our time living in a city that will allow our intellects to thrive. We must seize this moment to step forward as a new nerve center for the Occupy movement. The decisions we make now will decide how much stronger we are when it really begins to count.

On Wednesday, November 16th at 9pm, after the General Assembly there will be a Think Tank titled What Do We Want, Why Are We Here? Please attend if you are interested in moving forward the dialogue.

[sursoreal]

by Marshall James Kavanaugh

After working all day today and for the last few days, I was at home relaxing when I saw that according to the NYC to DC March GPS Tracker, the occupiers were on their way down East Girard Avenue only a few blocks away from where I sat at my computer. Of course, I was aware that this march was on its way into Philadelphia today and I had tried to stay updated on when they would reach the city so that I could make my way to Occupied City Hall to greet them. I had not thought much on the fact that the route they would take would lead them essentially right past my house. In a moment of excitement, I grabbed a white dress shirt and a tie and rushed out the door to catch up with them. The GPS Tracker had not been updated in eight minutes according to the website, so I made my way down to Girard as quickly as I could.

The marchers were from Occupy Wall Street. Five days ago they were bold enough to leave the safety of their occupied encampment, marching on foot over roughly more than one hundred miles to reach Occupy Philadelphia as a pit stop on their long trek to Occupy Washington DC. Numbering only a few dozen initial marchers, with many joining the ranks along the way, they spent their time on the road raising awareness to the Occupy movement. They trekked to other occupied sites, including Trenton, setting up their own camp at each site and had what one marcher described as “a month’s amount of experiences” all in five days.

When I finally caught up with them on 2nd Street in Northern Liberties, there were already at least 50-75 Philadelphia occupiers who had filled the street to march with them to City Hall chanting traditional slogans such as “We are the 99%” and “The people united can never be divided”. There were plenty of pedestrians along the sidewalk shouting their support as well as individuals shouting solidarity from their car windows. One woman took the time to shout “Thank you for taking the time to do what you are doing for all of the rest of us”. The amount of marchers continued to grow as more joined in from the street and at one point the march seemed to peak with at least one hundred occupiers declaring these streets the ninety-nine percenter’s streets. It was hard to tell who was from New York and who was from Philadelphia at this point except for two gentlemen who stuck to the middle of the group and pulled a wagon full of water, medical supplies, and camp equipment behind them. Both spent much of the time in between chants asking members of the march about what inspired them to come out for the movement and what were some interesting things worth sharing about the Philadelphia sect of the movement.

After many zig-zags through major city thoroughfares, a stop at Fox News to chant “Shame”, and ten blocks of uninterrupted march down Market Street, we finally made it to City Hall. From there food was served and a more general meet and greet was begun. There were at least two members of corporate media there, including CBS and ABC, to take stock photo of the gathering. An ABC newscaster interviewed Bo Han (OWS) in an effort to put a number on the amount of protestors involved in this march. When asked how many members of the Occupy movement had marched with him from New York City to Philadelphia he replied that from what depravity he had seen and the amount of support he had received along the way in only five days he made no exaggeration in estimating that the amount of fellow likeminded Occupiers that had marched with him in spirit and in footwork to be well into the hundreds of thousands.

As marchers convened in the NW corner of Dilworth Plaza, they shared stories of their experiences over the last five days. They told of multiple individuals pulling over their car and getting out in order to walk with them a few miles. They told of people who had tracked them on the GPS Tracker that I had followed, in order to donate food or other supplies. One of the more memorable experiences one marcher described was of a woman who approached them sobbing. She said she had just been returning from the doctor’s office where she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Seeing the march of a few dozen occupiers had made her cry out loud because she realized it was a sign that she would be okay. She approached and hugged each occupier saying she wanted to express her gratefulness for what they represented for her and for the world.

Members of the Philadelphia Comfort WG and Safety WG helped to find tents for some of the newcomers, while the others that had brought tents rested their feet. Very quickly it became apparent that this group had come more than prepared for their journey in an organized format. All working groups seemed to be represented in this march only in a small scale. One Occupier referred to as “Medic” for obvious reasons took on the role as the march’s foot doctor, as many marchers had developed blisters along the way.  Another talked of her role as the group’s facilitator and was also engaged as a member of the Direct Action working group. The group had its own Media representative who made sure to take photos of the march, as well as group photos at the encampment. He was also responsible for posts to the group’s Livefeed. I even got a chance to meet the woman who carried the GPS tracker set up through her cell phone around her neck. I made sure to thank her for bringing me out of my house by making me aware that they were passing so close by.

It also became apparent that not all the members of the march had started at Occupy Wall Street. The group had picked up marchers along the way and would continue to do so as they ventured closer to Washington DC. I met one marcher who came all the way from Harrisburg to Philadelphia in order to meet up with the march and continue with them down south. Also, some marchers with other commitments unfortunately had to go their separate ways at an earlier point in time.

The sheer brilliance of this action comes in the points I described above. It is not a march led by one single participant. By the same token anyone can join the march at any point in time and add to its numbers. This is an action called on by interested occupiers who wanted to observe what types of process were in existence at other locations. It also was spurred on by the idea of opening up further channels of communication between all Occupy movements. For instance, the woman that I cited earlier as being both a facilitator and member of Direct Action, expressed her excitement at meeting in person the people she had talked to in conference calls through out prior weeks. This action is also the first of its type, and though small to start it should be considered a great achievement of autonomy and individual creativity. It would be naïve to see this as the last time that a march is led across state, national, and continental boundaries. This is the first of many and its size is only sure to increase as time and awareness progresses. Just today the New York City General Assembly posted on their website a letter of response from Egypt to an invitation for occupiers from Wall Street to visit them at Tahrir Square. The motivation for this trip comes from an interest in expanding a global vision of what types of changes must come.

The Occupy movement will continue to expand and evolve in character. What actions we will see in the coming days will be all that more inspiring.

The New York to DC march will leave Philadelphia on Tuesday morning, so if you are interested in taking a walk with them over the next few days as they reach Occupy Baltimore and set their sights on Occupy Washington DC, please take a look at their website and join them on their march as they depart Philadelphia. They plan to arrive in Washington DC on November 22nd.

You can learn more about the NYC to DC March on their website:http://nycmarch2dc.wordpress.com/ The GPS Tracker is available here:http://nycmarch2dc.wordpress.com/gps-tracker/ The march’s Livefeed is available here: http://qik.com/nycmarch2dc

A link to NYCGA's letter from Egypt about a trip to Tahrir Square: http://www.nycga.net/2011/11/13/communique-from-cairo-re-egypt-trip

Solidarity!

[sursoreal]

Live: From #occupyphilly

It is the 10th day of occupation in the city of Philadelphia. What once was a movement with 40 tents, now currently is 300+ tents strong. All I can say is that it is quite cozy here and more people should keep coming and setting up tents so that we can slowly extend our occupation through further unoccupied territory. We can set up new camps and we can have more members of the 99% involved in our direct democratic process. The people here are full of talk and joyous in their celebration. Everyone can sense that this is something radical ready to move us into a freer world, without tyrants like Goldman Sachs. We all have a different voice and our individual message or reasons for being here do not need to be unified. We are the people and we have many concerns and ideas and things to say. Tonight I enjoyed conversations with all sorts of people. There are anarchists down here. There are families down here. There are people with no other home to go to. We take care of each other and stay warm through the cold. It is the dream that is strongly American and only somewhat surreal. I sleep here tonight and while I enjoy the enclosure of my tent my sleeping protest awakens.

[sursoreal]

[sursoreal]

Occupy Philadelphia - DAY 1 (10/6/2011, This Is Real)

[sursoreal]

Occupy Philadelphia - DAY 1 (10/6/2011, This Is Real)

[sursoreal]

Join us for a fine evening of provocative word exchange. We will be hosting a potluck as well, so please bring some cupcakes or other hors d'oeuvres. Merci!

[yvynyl]

[sursoreal]

An example of the increasing vulnerability of big labels in accordance with the shift in the music industry over the last decade, as mentioned in a previous article I wrote almost a week ago:

yvynyl:

Hello (It’s Me). This is Trung and Brad from TV Girl. Today we were unpleasantly surprised to find that the Warner Music Group started making good on their promise to remove our music from the web. Several blogs reached out to us after receiving takedown notices regarding our music. We...

[realisthis-blog]

[sursoreal]

Radeo got him!

[sursoreal]

Recap: Purling Hiss Rewrites and Reshreds Their Way Through Rock N’ Roll History

By Marshall James Kavanaugh

In a time like this when all of your social group epitomize the term starving artist carrying six packs and forties to and from Le Bar and Bardo Pond grooving along since the early 90s lives the next loft over still ripping their instruments to shreds and doing the occasional European tour with Thurston Moore and the average show start time has gradually pushed further and further past ten letting the street lights flicker as the audience praises the Individual’s mighty reign, it’s not that uncommon to find yourself on a Saturday night in the front room of a warehouse sweating profusely as everyone nods their head rhythmically to the sweet sweet juxtapositions of a guitarist’s solo despondent shreds and tangential feedback-infused exasperated ventriloquies.

Purling Hiss is rewriting pop music in a way that I’ve only just begun to grasp. Seeing them a few times even playing with them once the surreal truths of their nature has totally evaded me up until last midnight. It’s like this:

Purling Hiss is the birth child of Michael Polizze known for his endless blues portrayed in Birds of Maya who after endless hours days years decades spent creating 4-tracked demos in whatever room he found himself in decided to take the show on the road. They have been doing this for close to a year now rocking basements and bars supporting the tours of Kurt Vile around the US releasing a new record on a different label it seems like each month and even making their way up to ole’ Canada as I write this. I’m sure the new releases won’t begin to stop and though they’re not on this years line up for Pitchfork and they had to scrap their invite to play at Bitchpork next year and its summer of festivals isn’t too far off and there is always the future possibility of a tour to Europe and the likes. 

  These dreamers have it, they really have that rock n’ roll sound and in last night’s rendition it flowed straight from the soul. They played it tight and as Polizze launched into his next attack the band didn’t skip a beat or flash an eye the drummer only kicking in heavier and maybe adding a little extra high hat to each downbeat as the bassist just kept dishing out even more fluid walks up and down fretted scales. 

When I say these guys are rewriting pop music what I’m really talking about is an injustice. Riff by riff they shred and reshred the waves of our inevitable musical history as human beings tracing each step with a liner note of self-reference. Their sense of sound compliments an era when not everyone and their uncle played an instrument or played in a band and going to a gig was a real suburban act of discord, not your typical Tuesday, Saturday, Wednesday, Thursday, Monday, Friday night occurrence. Instead it was a really special celebration devoted to honoring a great legend and his or her spellbinding musicianship. Mexican Summer is a great label to have just released their latest album Lounge Lizards but it’s nowhere near as appropriate as a release on Atlantic Records circa 1968 would be. I used to preach fondness for the basement show or independent DIY culture but seeing the genius of Purling Hiss truly makes these seem like troubled times where a band that has every aspiration and right to live the dream and become a rock n’ roll legend hasn’t the slightest chance to do so within the modern layout. 

The music industry has changed it’s face at least thirty times in the last half century. The last time it seemed half-legitimate the US was fire-bombing our troops out of Vietnam. Now we face the first new decade of a new century and all of that prior culture has gone far beyond our physical reach. Philadelphia being a perfect mecca for a post-modern twist to this modern travesty where everyone can play in a band and everyone can release an endless amount of records but very few of us can make their way outside of the city limits and those that do don’t get paid much doing it. Purling Hiss deserves so so much more than playing a record release show in the front room of a warehouse packed to the brim with a hundred or so twenty-somethings. Rather they should be playing in front of hundreds of thousands upon a massive outdoor stage circumvented with Woodstock style free love and mud wrestling. This isn’t fan fiction either, for once this narrative has taken the scope of realism. There’s a lot of bands in our local scene that deserve this and we take for granted and shrug our shoulders when we hear that they are playing again because we just saw them last week. They at least deserve more than a crowd of drunken, flat broke revelers swinging about wildly with every head nod. I say this without contempt because I do enjoy and participate in the above things, but my point is that there could just be so much more.

A conversation I’ve been having a lot lately with a lot of different people from various backgrounds is how the migration to Philadelphia is really beginning to pick up. This is something I’ve noticed over the last few years and is something with a lot longer of a history that includes myself who migrated here not too long ago. The interesting question to ask is “Why?”. Of course, there’s the cheap rent, a night life that always has something to do and if not plenty of bars where everyone knows your name, and there are more than enough independent coffee shops on every corner to keep the majority of us employed and afloat until something better comes along. But what is the real attraction? Is there something more than just a cheap seat and a fun ride? When we’re drunk this life seems like the absolute best without an end in sight. When we’re stoned it’s as if everything here exists in a state of total anarchy. And in the morning when we’re sober our head hurts and we feel slightly weak, but we still push on for more. 

So what’s next? One can only hope that the people that begin to make Philadelphia their home bring in their own personal wealth to reinvest in our creative endeavors and a band can have a record release show and sell more than ten of their records while all the rest of us watch them basically for free. And as the more well-versed residents begin to age and settle down they also plant their feet in what might just be the onset of a post-industrial revolution supplying jobs and production and sustaining vibrance throughout this city of Brotherly Love. Who knows. The best one can ask for is that music moguls commercial radio CEOs the RIAA and whoever else still thinks they can swindle the average 12-year old, or that the rest of us give a damn, get lost or shift gears and use their multi-faceted modes of persuasion to start helping us support all of this that is really good, like Purling Hiss or any of these other bands, because we don’t really have the money and we definitely don’t have the time or the influence to do it alone.

Purling Hiss on tour in Canada and New England from June 21st through June 28th.

Purling Hiss performs with Pearls & Brass and Serpent Throne on Saturday, August 20th at 8pm in Johnny Brendas. $10. http://www.johnnybrendas.com

[sursoreal]

Word Relation: Bands good for the jersey shore.

Amen Dunes, Beach House, Best Coast, The Dead C, Dirty Beaches, Emo Summer, A Flock Of Seagulls, I Have Been Floated, Indian Summer, Nada Surf, Nude Beach, Nude Beach, Real Estate, Sailboats, Sea Nifkin, The Sea, Like Lead, The Ships, Thee Oh Sees, Waaves, Washed Out, Wet Hair, etc.

add your own.